The festival of football has ended for another four years, but these 10 players have certainly made their mark on the sport, in South Africa.
10. Mesut Ozil
From a nobody to everybody, the rise of Mesut Ozil has been absolutely meteoric. He came into the world cup as someone who was getting into the string-pulling position for Werder Bremen. Under the national team’s colours, Ozil took his career far, from Bremen to Madrid. Amongst a rare breed of players, this left-sided winger is an absolute pleasure to watch.
Creating much more than most, Ozil has an uncanny knack of finding the net! His brilliant vision and perfect passing was the secret behind Germany’s fantastic run up to the semi-finals of the World Cup. Would have ranked higher had his team got more out of the world cup.
09. Diego Godin
It isn’t often that you have defenders coming inside the top-ten players of the world cup. However, the Uruguayan was absolutely sensational this summer. He not only led his team with fire, but also helped them keep a cool head under pressure. With Diego Lugano at the back, the pair was formidable, but it has to be said that the often under-mentioned Godin clearly outshone all others at the world cup. Truly a player with substance!
08. David Villa
If it were any other tournament, the Spanish striker wouldn’t have made the list. His goals tally was amongst the highest in the world cup but considering Spain’s firepower, it was a tad bit disappointing. All 5 of his goals came until the quarterfinals, which is when the tough matches actually began. While a couple of his goals were truly world class, Villa’s true worth came out in the importance that those goals held.
Fantastic timing and precision saw him score the winning goal against Portugal, Paraguay and both against Honduras – A fact that would get him into any top-ten list.
07. Iker Casillas
Often ignored, Casillas was fantastic for Spain. The World Champions’ captain played the part to perfection, leading his team to a magnificent European and World Title. Playing behind a bungling centre back and one who’s too old to have children even, Casillas was immaculate, letting in just two goals, in 7 games.
In a team that holds the ball well, you would think that Casillas wouldn’t have much to do. However, a visit to the game against Chile and Portugal would show that things would be much different had this Golden Glove winner not been between the posts. While Manuel Neuer (Germany) and Fernando Muslera (Uruguay) also did well, in fact probably better as goal keepers, they both also had the advantage of better defences. And then, none of them went to grab a world cup winners’ medal, making Casillas the only goalkeeper in our list.
06. Arjen Robben
Extremely lethal, often overrated, fantastically mesmerising, constantly whining and perpetually injured – these are apt descriptions for the act that is Arjen Robben. An Oscar winning script in himself, Robben has the ability to turn the game around on its head, singlehandedly. However, if things are not going well, he can also end up standing like a sulking boy, in one corner of the pitch. Either way, it is hard to not pay any attention to him.
For Holland, Robben was the only saving grace, besides a certain number 10. He was fast and troubled his opponents a lot. There wasn’t much that they could make out of his trickery with the ball. He ran past them, through them and around them with ease, only to miss two of the simplest chance he would get, in the finals. Had any one of those gone in, he would have been number 2 on the list, but for now, he stands in at 6!
05. Andres Iniesta
He was spectacular and humble, scoring the winning goal in the finals. Had he been a regular goal-scorer, Iniesta would have certainly notched up the numbers here. While controlling the midfield was the primary agenda for Iniesta, he would pop up in fantastic goal-scoring positions. The only times he did find the net was the winning goal against Chile, and the last goal of the entire tournament.
Whether you look at him as a playmaker who set up goals or a midfield general who commanded every move of his team, and his opponents, Iniesta was equally comfortable in both roles. With or without Xavi, Iniesta was easily one of the most dominant players of the 2010 World Cup. However, it is only and only because Spain has so much talent, that Iniesta ranks so low on the list. Easily a contender for the second spot, if not more!
04. Diego Forlan
Diego Forlan was easily one of the most influential players of the world cup. He led Uruguay, singlehandedly at times, to the brink of third place in the tournament. With a team that was built on bits-and-parts players, Forlan decided to pull something special out of the bag every time they needed something like that.
If he wasn’t scoring the goals that got him the Golden Boot, he was creating them for his prolific partner Luis Suarez. Uruguay began the tournament as distant favourites to barely make it out of the group. That they ended up in third spot is truly a sign of Forlan’s contribution to the team.
03. Bastian Schweinsteiger
It was a trial by fire for the young German, as Michael Ballack was forced to pull out at the last minute. With the job of filling in the midfield marshal’s role, Schweinsteiger hardly gave a reason to worry. Even in the match against Spain, his was the only saving grace in a team that seemed to have lost its soul.
Whether it was to lead the team to a 4-1 and 4-nil win over England and Argentina, or to bring the team from the demoralising defeat against Spain into a fascinating 3-2 win over Uruguay, Schweinsteiger was at the heart of it all. Again, a player who would have been a nominee for the Golden Ball winner, had it been for a different outcome to the world cup.
02. Wesley Sneijder
The 2010 FIFA World Cup had all but Wesley Sneijder’s name on it. The midfielder outshone everybody on the pitch, even the player who topped this list, but only lost out due to lack of result. Sneijder set the world cup ablaze with his spectacular passing and brilliant opportunism. He scored some fantastic goals and made some huge contributions, when those around him seemed mortal.
At every stage, Sneijder put in tireless performances, game after game, without letting any team or moment slip out of his reach. He even scored with his head, against Brazil, in a game that they were considered underdogs for. However, despite his sublime skills and breathtaking vision, Holland failed to win the title.
It has to be said that with if it hadn’t been for Wesley Sneijder, this above-average Dutch team would have remained just that.
01. Xavi Hernandez
There could be no other! As far as Spain are concerned, Xavi ran the team in the midfield. Villa did the scoring up front and Casillas did the defending at the back. In the middle, it was all Xavi and Iniesta and out of the two, Xavi was easily the more enterprising. Sure, he didn’t score many goals and in the end, it is the goals scored that makes a difference. However, there is much more to football than mere goals.
Xavi was the epitome of breathtaking football, creating space, linking players; passing the ball around; holding possession; winning the ball back, and even creating chances. He was running all over the park, popping up in places no central midfielder would. He played the game with heart, like he always has.
There may be arguments that others may have been more deserved of this position. However, what good is a fantastic individual performance, if the team wins nothing. And the fact is that if you lose, you don’t win the Gold, even though you may win something else – and if you don’t win the Gold, it makes no difference what you win. Xavi will be remembered because he won Gold! And it was because of him that, today, Spain can say that they won Gold!